November i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
dustry, 
to the i 
Eovifiidabla rival 
ifg tracts. It 
Narboum 
and othe 
that the 
sb 
th 
that the 
'iy 
are as mud 
clefts of rocks in I 
lis-mrus ; 1 1 > < 1 crannies 
cither in this preside: 
matter any part of £ 
bee, and the credit i 
one shall he found t 
honcv-heo of India 
Madras Times, 
fta will meet with all the 
neritB entitle them to. To 
: of Salsette «nd Elephanta 
\y bees as were formerly the 
tine, and as now arc the 
he Cuddapah hills ; no one 
that 
is tried t > domesticate the 
all the greater when some 
pate the illusion that the 
unmanageable creature.— 
Edm 
estal 
lour 
THE SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. 
.Mr. Buckmaster of South Kensington, lately delivered 
most interesting lecture on "Agricultural Scientific 
th 
much attcntn. 
classes must 
itjiiuation in 
tfghland Soc 
pyllabus 
this suhj 
nature of 
ishes to 
igrjcult- 
three or 
ed very 
cultural 
study th 
about it. The distribution and formation of soils, 
their classification ; substances found in the ashes of 
plant-, the sources from which these substances were 
obtained ; active and dormant nutter in the soil; 
conditions which regulate the conversion of dormant 
matter into a state available for plant food. Intlu- | 
encc of th« mechanical condition of the soil on the I 
growth of plants, good and bad management of farm- I 
yard manure; artificial manure; phosphates, super- ; 
phosphate", ammouiacal manures, nitrates^ salt, chalk 
lime, soot — their use and special properties ; drainage 
of land, its influence on temperature and health of | 
stock rotation of crop?, jiood courses of crops, bad | 
courses of crops chemical composition of the sub- 
stances used as food, materials necessary for the growth 
,of the body, maintenance of animal beat, formatiou 
of fat, muscle and bone, tho economical uses of foods, 
muted foods, and general rules for the preservation 
of health. The examination will be within the range 
of this course of instruction, and every qualified ' 
teacher will receive a payment of £1 or £2 for 1 
every pupil who passes the examination, and this 
payment comes out of t ie annual Parliamentary grant 
for education. The pupils are encouraged b> prizes | 
of books, certificates, and bursaries. Such was a | 
■SHeral outline of tho scheme for promoting the estab- , 
finment of classes lor teaching the science of j 
agriculture. It may not be all that sonic think ne- 
Kpary. bul faithfully crried out, it was capable of 
accomplishing a useful educational work in a direc- 
t «.ii Dot hitherto attempted, for there was nothing 
in do! education ol Scotland whioli had any refer- ! 
US 10 its industries. The agriculture of the future 
must every day become more and more thoughtful 
'17 
and scienti lie. Cheap bread and cheap meat may 
not be inconsistent with profitable agriculture. 2s'o 
one will pretend to say that he knows all that ia 
duces all that it i3 capable^ producing. Agriculture, 
like every other civilised industry, could make but 
slow progress until those sciences on which the in- 
dustry depends were more generally cultivated and 
understood. It is our increased knowledge of geology, 
chemistry, and physiology, which enables us to under* 
stand and explain many things which were regarded 
by our forefathers as unaccountable mysteries — (ap- 
plause). The laws which regulate the growth of a 
blade of gra-s or the transformation of a turhip-Hy 
or a fluke, are just as fixed as the Jaw of gravity. 
It should be part of the education of every farmer 
to study these things, to try and understand them, 
and turn them to useful purpose in his daily work. 
All new methods of cultivation, and every new 
manure, have had one subject — viz., to increase the 
productive power of the earth, and to make it bring 
forth more abundantly. We have largely aided our 
national resources by the importation and manufacture 
of artificial manures, of which our forefathers knew 
nothing. We have economised labour in every di- 
rection by the introduction of improved machinery. 
We now stand on the threshold of still gi eater 
changes, which are only to be limited by the highest 
intellectual effect of our nature. It is impossible to 
make any progress in' any industrial art without a 
knowledge of those laws and principles upon which 
the art is ba*cd. To manage your land in this parti- 
cular way, to grow this particular crop in succession 
to sonu other crop, for no other reason than our fore- 
fathers used to do it, and they used to do it, because 
their forefathers did it - (applause) —with a creed 'of 
this kind no industry can make progress, and the 
higher nature of a man, instead of being quickenc I, 
must stagnate in his daily work. The progress of 
agriculture, like that of every other industry, is a 
constant struggle with natural laws and natural forces. 
It is only by knowledge that we cm subjugate these 
forces to our use, and mike them our willing sub- 
jects and slaves. Science discover; law ; art applies 
them. The science of an industry is for the most 
part a distinct thing from its practice, but the most 
successful farmer is he who is able to unite in bis 
daily life science with practice. There can be no 
such thing as two kinds of agriculture — one scienti- 
fic and the other practical. All practical agriculture 
to be successful must be scicntilic, and yet there is 
no opinion more deeply impressed on the minds of 
some men than the very common belief that science 
aud practice are opposed to each other. 
SOUTHERN INDIA. 
;s ago we made a few 
g industry and stated 
ely to be derived by 
bject greater attention 
We have been favored 
COCONUT CIT.ITVAI 
About a month or si 
remarks on the coconut 
that many advantages 
small capitalists giving 
than it has lately reeei 
by a correspondent with a pamphlet on casnarina and 
coconut planting published in Madras some 15 years 
ago, when tho planting industry occupied greater 
attention than it now does, aud when small capitalists 
applied for land in places hear Madras for ti e purpose 
of planting casnarina which was all the rage at the 
time Wo find on a reference to the pamphlet which, 
by the way we may mention, contains n good deal 
of valuable information abont ouuarina planting, that 
coconut plants may bo safely planted with casnarina 
aud after the latter arc out up mid sold, the coconut 
tope will bu there and from it the owner may obtain 
tho revenue which is always available from tie- 
coconut tree. Coconut plantations arc known to have 
